Lounge chair



March 31, 1953 J. D. BELL LOUNGE CHAIR Filed Sept. 14, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Mar. 31,, 1953 LOUNGE CHAIR Joseph D. Bell, San Francisco, Calif.; Pearl B. Bell, administratrix of said Joseph D. Bell, de-

ceased Application September 14, i950, Serial No. 184,794 2 Claims. (01. 155-l16) The present invention relates to improvements in a lounge chair and its principal object is to provide a lounge chair that may be readily converted into a bed and provides various features that make the device particularly comfortable in use and attractive in appearance.

More particularly it is proposed to provide, in a convertible lounge chair, a mattress unit comprising a seat section and aback section hingedly connected, the seat section being elongated to form a rest for the seat and for the extended legs of an occupant and being shaped to support the legs in a position of complete comfort, with the knee sections raised to provide for complete relaxation of the entire body.

It is further proposed to provide, in a lounge chair of the character described, a main frame for the support of the mattress unit, the main frame including a side member having a relatively low forward section to facilitate access to the chair and an elevated rear section to provide an arm rest, the latter being mounted with freedom of swinging movement into an out-ofthe-way position to render the rear portion of the mattress unit more easily accessible.

It is further proposed to arrange the frame and the mattress with respect to one another so as to cause the surface of the mattress unit, at the seat section, to project above or be at least on :a plane with the side members of the frame so that a person may seat himself on the seat section of the mattress unit Without being restrained by the side members.

It is further proposed to provide mounting means for the mattress unit and carried by the main frame which will allow an occupant to shift the mattress unit by mere body pressure into any desired angular position between bed and chair positions, the seat section of the mattress unit being movable to maintain a substantially horizontal position at all possible adjustments.

And finally, it is proposed to provide, in com.- bination with the features thus far mentioned, a cushion adapted for securing to or loosely resting on the seat section of the mattress unit, the

cushion being adapted to raise the knee sections of the occupant to a more comfortable position and including a special feature whereby it may be doubled upon itself right underneath the knees of the occupant to raise the knees to a still higher position.

Some of the features of the present invention have been described by me in previous patents, and particular reference is had, in this respect, to my Patent Number 2,270,5'76issued January 20, 1942,

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds, and

1 the novel features of my invention will be fully definedin the claims. attached hereto. I

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 shows a perspective view of my lounge chair,

Figure 2, a longitudinal section through my lounge chair, in lounge position, and

Figure 3, a similar longitudinal section, with the mattress unit in bed position.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, I'wish to have it understood that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims attached hereto without departing from the spirit of the invention. 1

Referring to the drawing in detail, my lounge chair comprises in its principal features a main frame I, a mattress unit 2, and means for movably supporting the unit with respect to the frame.

The main frame comprises a pair of elongated side frame members 3, each having a relatively low front portion 4 and an elevated rear portion 5, the rear portion being approximately of the same length as the front portion and being made to form an arm rest. The latter is mounted hingedly with respect to the side members, as at 6, so that it may be swung upwardly and rearwardly into an out-of-the-way position to facilitate access to the rear portion of the seat section of the mattress unit. The arm rest may have a short downward projection 1 at its front end adapted for entering between the side frame member and the mattress unit to resist side pressure against the arm rest.

The front portion of each side member is relatively low, somewhat lower than an ordinary chair seat and the rear section or arm rest rises above the front section approximately the same distance a conventional arm rest rises above the seat of a chair.

The two side members are held in spaced and parallel relation by means of a pair of crossmembers 8 and 9 which may be in the form of conventional boards, the member 8 being somewhat below the height of the front upper edges of the side members, and the member 9 being approximately on a level with said edges.

The mattress unit 2 is made in two sections It and I l, the former being elongated to support links l6 pivoted to the side members as at I! and to the frame l3 as at 13, the rearward swing of the links being limited by suitable stops 19.

The front or seat sect-ion of the mattress unit is free to ride on the front cross-member 8 and is formed with downwardly projecting brackets 20 having wedge faces 2| adapted to lift the front section as it rides forward.

The rear end of the seat section has a pair of short brackets 22 depending therefrom and these links have pins 23 adapted to ride on guides 24 secured upon the side members, the guides being suitably curved to cause the rear end of the front section of the mattress unit to rise uniformly with the front end so as to maintain the front or seat section in substantially horizontal position at any adjustment of the mattress unit. The upholstery is sufiiciently heavy to bring its upper surface above the upper edges of the side members so that a person may sit down on the upholstery from the side of the chair lounge without feeling the upper edges of the side members, which naturally involve a rigid frame structure, suitably covered by upholstery.

In many instances it is desirable, for producing a state of complete relaxation, to provide means for raising the knee sections of a chair occupant, To partially satisfy this need I mount the upholstery on the front or seat section of the mattress unit in such "a manner as to normally provide a lift for the knees. But additionally I provide a special cushion 25 which is elongated to cover the entire front section of the mattress unit and which is tapered from a heavy central portion toward both ends, as shown in Figure 1, the heavy central portion being located approximately under the knees of a chair occupant.

To further accentuate the desired effect I preferably make the cushion in two sections 29 and 21 connected along the top surface by material, as at 28, which allows the rear section to be swung upon the front section so as to provide a double thickness of cushion underneath the knees.

The front section of the cushion may be permanently secured upon the front portion of the front section of the mattress unit or may be loosely disposed thereon.

In operation, a person desiring to use the chair as a lounge may swing the arm rest upward into and out-of-the-way position, seat himself on the rear portion of the front section of the mattress unit, swing his legs over and lean back against the back rest to adjust the latter to any desired angularity. As the top of the back rest swings backward, the front section of the mattress unit moves forward and rises, until the mattress unit eventually reaches a horizontal or bed position, with the back rest lying on the cross-member 9, and the front section, through the wedge member '20, resting on the front crossmember 8.

The top plane of the front section of the mattress unit is always above or at least in substantially the same plane with the upper edges of the side members for convenience of access, while the arm rests may be swung out of the way to give better access to the rear portion of the front section.

The cushion, again, will increase the comfort of the occupant, whether used spread out over the entire front section or doubled up for an additional knee-lift.

It should be noted that the arrangement of the mattress unit as a movable and separate member with respect to the frame structure lends itself particularly well to the tucking in of covers or blankets along the side frame members, as compared with lounge chairs in which the mattress and the frame are made as a unitary structure.

I claim:

1. A lounge chair comprising a main frame including elongated side members having substantially horizontally disposed upper edges, and front and rear members connecting the side members, and an elongated seat section and a comparatively short back section flexibly connected and tiltably mounted on the frame, the seat section being sufficiently long to serve as a support for the seat and the extended legs of a person and the side sections being of approximately the same length, and the seat section being movable substantially parallel with the upper edges of the side members when the seat and back sections are moved, and the seat section having an upper surface disposed at all times above the upper edges of the side members throughout the length of the seat section for easy access to the seat, and the rear portion of either side member having an arm rest pivoted thereto with freedom of swinging motion in a vertical plane between a position adjacent the rear portion of the seat section and an out-of-the-way position adjacent the back section.

2. A lounge chair comprising a main frame including elongated side members having substantially horizontally disposed upper edges, and front and rear members connecting the side members, and an elongated seat section and a comparatively short back section flexibly connected and tiltably mounted on the frame, the seat section being sufiiciently long to serve as a support for the seat and the extended legs of a person and the side sections being of approximately the same length, and the seat section being movable substantially parallel with the upper edges of the side members when the seat and back sections are moved, and the seat section having an upper surface disposed at all times above the upper edges of the side members throughout the length of the seat section for easy access to the seat, and the rear portion of either side member having an arm rest pivoted thereto with freedom of swinging motion in a vertical plane between a position adjacent the rear portion of the seat section and an outof-the-way position adjacent the back section, and each arm rest having a short downward projection adapted for entering between a side member and the seat section to resist side pressure against the arm rest.

JOSEPH D. BELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 157,269 Laskowitz Feb. 14, 1950 D. 161,574 Deutsch Jan. 9, 1951 2,031,124 Perlesz Feb. 18, 1936 2,247,546 Donoho July 1, 1941 2,270,576 Bell Jan. 20, 1942 2,288,775 Bell July 7, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 61,139 Norway July 17, 1939 62,717 Norway July 22, 1940 

